Review: In love with Ibiza (2013)

Director: Johan Nijenhuis | 111 minutes | comedy, romance | Actors: Sanne Vogel, Jan Kooijman, Gigi Ravelli, Rick Engelkes, Marly van der Velden, Simone Kleinsma, Jim Bakkum, Lone van Roosendaal, Kim Feenstra, Willeke van Ammelrooy, Armin van Buuren, Jasper Gottlieb, Marius Gottlieb, David Lucieer

On the sun-drenched island of Ibiza, in “In love with Ibiza” we follow different people who are all looking for love. Footballer Kevin has won a multi-million dollar contract and wants to celebrate her birthday on the island with his beautiful girlfriend Elsa. But then he meets party planner Lizzy to whom he is strongly attracted. Singer Lex lives with two of his daughters (Lizzy and Bibi) in Ibiza and has never been a good father due to his rock ‘n roll attitude. When his eldest daughter Zara comes to visit for his birthday, tensions arise between the sisters and their father. Twins Dylan and Boyd have come to Ibiza with their friend and manager Lars to make their dream as a DJ come true. They are quite disappointed, until they meet Armin van Buuren. In the meantime, Lars meets Irma in her forties, who is on vacation with her neighbor Jacky. Irma hopes for a quiet holiday in the sun, but that is not possible with the handsome and young Lars who adorns her. All storylines come together on the night of a big show by Armin van Buuren. Will it end well for everyone?

“In love with Ibiza” is the new film from director Johan Nijenhuis, the man who brought us “Costa!”, “Full Moon” and the story of “Snowfever”. “In love with Ibiza” also fits exactly in that list. Many familiar faces, a holiday atmosphere, romance and sometimes some humor. But “In love with Ibiza” is above all a film for all ages, which is actually too wrong for words but is simply entertaining due to its lack of pretension. Nijenhuis is commercial and uses all possibilities to make his film a success. He doesn’t do that badly at all. Ibiza has been praised in the media for years and there are plenty of well-known Dutch people who regularly camp on the party island. So Ibiza is widely filmed as the ultimate place for a party holiday. It was even smarter to have the best DJ in the world (Armin van Buuren) perform for the film music and a small role. As a result, the entire film becomes a kind of video clip that simultaneously promotes Ibiza and the music of Armin van Buuren. Wrong? Yes, but it is true with a film that you as a viewer should certainly not take seriously. Don’t expect fantastic acting and beautiful dialogues here. “In love with Ibiza” is a summery film that will especially appeal to young people.

While Nijenhuis’ previous films focused on a few actors, “In love with Ibiza” is an ensemble film. To be clear: the film cannot be compared with, for example, “Everything is love”. The level is a lot lower for that. An attempt is made to incorporate a little drama into the story towards the end. But that is too forced and in all storylines there is also much too quickly over dramatic twists. “In love with Ibiza” largely revolves around Kevin and Lizzy, played by Jan Kooijman and Sanne Vogel. Kooijman is really only handsome and with Vogel you often wonder what she is looking for in the film. Normally Vogel can be found in much better productions than this. The rest of the cast, mostly from “GTST” and “Spangas”, act on autopilot. Only model Kim Feenstra makes something of it by going completely over the top as gold digger Elsa. With the exception of Rick Engelkes, who occasionally acts cringe-worthy, “oldies” Willeke van Ammelrooy, Lone van Roosendaal and Simone Kleinsma are the ones who give the film a bit of flair with their roles. But although Kleinsma is a charming woman, it remains completely unbelievable that a young hunk like Jim Bakkum would ever fall for her.

“In love with Ibiza” is as simple as the title. Sun, sea, beach and a no-nonsense story. Don’t take it seriously, but see it as a guilty pleasure that is secretly entertaining here and there.